Mica flat handling systems



May 10, 1960 D. M. COLLINS ETAL MICA FLAT HANDLING SYSTEMS 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed Aug. 195s Il//////////j LL// Ill INVENTORS ATTORNEY May 10, 1960 D. M. COLLINS ETAL 2,935,830

MICA FLAT HANDLING SYSTEMS Filed Aug. 29, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/ vENTORs Borgia: L'olla'gs A'TTORNEY 2,935,830 MICA FLAT HANDLING SYSTEMS Douglas Collins, Bergenfield, and Edward H. Boiler, Falrlawn, N.J.; said Collins assignor to Industrial Mica Corporation, Englewood, NJ., a corporation of New Jersey Applic'ation August 29, 1956, Serial No. 606,833

4 Claims. (Cl. 53-254) The present invention relates to a mica flat handling system, and it particularly relates to a machine and method for handling and particularly stacking mica flats;

Although the present invention has a particular application to the stacking and handling of flat, plate-like materials, particularly those having non circular or nonuniform peripheral contours, it will be particularly described in connection with the handling, and particularly the stacking of oiT-round mica plates so as to permit ready stacking and handling thereof incidental to their use in electronic tube assemblies.

' It is' among the objects of the present invention to provide a simple system for the handling, packaging and stacking of mica plates to eliminate excessive handling and expensive manual labor, and which will enable large quantities of mica plates to be stacked and packaged at minimum labor costs and at relatively high production per unit time.

Another object is to provide a novel mechanism for stacking mica plates through which large quantities of mica plates may be passed with assurance that there may be uniform and predetermined assembly of said mica plates, even though large quantities of mica plates are handled per unit time.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given-by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes thereinv may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

- In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention, to provide a hopper to receive the mica plates, which is mounted upon the reciprocatory platform driven by an eccentric motor drive. The hopper is designed to fit into an obliquely positioned, substantially horizontal feed tube, which in turn will deliver the' mica plate into a substantially vertical receptacle tube carrying the cylindrical package in which the mica plates are to be finally stacked.

n It is an important feature of the present invention that, although the mica plates may be fed into the hopper and into the tubing at random, nevertheless in the final package -they-='.will be aligned so that their flat or 055- round edges will be exactly aligned with one another, no matter how many may be stacked in the pile.

In the usual form, the plates are of generally circular contour,.'with their opposite sides being flatted or cut ofi parallel to each other.

In the present stacking'or' packaging system, these flats will be so aligned or positioned in respect to each other that the flats will all be aligned in the stack regardless of the number of plates which may be deposited in the stack.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically 2,935,830 Ratented May 10,19 0,

described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one form of the machine according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view upon the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the motor drive as well as the hopper and tubular conduit system.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view taken upon the left of Figs. 1 and 2. V

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic side perspective view of the lower part of the packaging tube, showing the manner in which the mica plates are stacked therein.

Fig. 5 is a top plan of an alternative mica plate construction.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of an alternative mica plate contour.

compared to Fig. 1 of an alternative arrangement which feeds mica plates in two directions to two packaging receptacles.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of still another alternative arrangement similar in size to Fig. 7, but much smaller in size as compared to Fig. l, in which the mica plates are fed outwardly from a single hopper to a plurality of receptacle containers.

Referringto Figs. 4, 5 and 6, there is shown three diiferent typical .shapes of mica plates, indicated respectively at A, B and C. r

The mica plate A shown in Fig. 4 has the flat sides 10, with the rounded opposite edges 11, which opposite edges are provided with location points or projections 12. The plate itself is provided with the slots 13 and the holes 14 to receive elements of the thermionic or other electronic tube.

When a stack of plates, such as shown at A, is subjected to transverse vibratory movement, as indicated by the double arrow 14, they will stack up symmetrically in a cylindrical container D, as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5, the mica disc B has the circular periphery 15 With opposite points 16. Interiorly, there are the slots 17 which are provided for the reception of electronic tube elements. When this plate of Fig. 5 is subjected to a transverse reciprocatory movement or vibration, as indicated by the double arrow 18, the plates will stack up uniformly, as shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 6, the mica plate C has the fiat sides 19 on the opposite ranged edges 20. The plate is'provided with the perforations 21 and the slots 22 to receive vacuum tube elements. Reciprocatory movement in the direction 23 will result in the stacking and aligning as shown in Fig. 4.

Now, referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a base structure 30, which is stationary, having the locks 31 supporting the motor body 32. Extending upwardly from the base 30 are also the stationary posts 33.

The motor body 32 carries the plate 34.

v The motor shaft 35 will drive the pulley 36, which carries the belt 37. I j The belt 37- drives the much larger pulley 38 on the shaft 39. The pulley 38 has a pivotal connection at 39 to the eye 40.

The eye 40 is connected to the rod 41, which, at its other end, connects to the eye 42 carrying the stud 43. The stud 43 extends upwardly into and passes through the reciprocatory platform 44. The platform is pivotally mounted at 45 on the rear post,46. This pivot stud 45 is kept in position by means of the washer 47 and the nut 48 i bracket '76, which is held in position by means of the rivets 77 on the platform 44.

The bracket 76 has a downwardly extending portion 78 which receives the upper and lower spring clips 79 and 80, which are mounted in position by means of the screws and nuts 81 and 82 on'the bracket 78.

These spring clips 79 and each consist of a U-shaped member having the base '83 mounted against the bracket 78, the outside legs 84 and the in-turned inside legs 85, which resiliently grip the tubular member 86.

Inserted upwardly from the bottom end 87 of the tubular member 86 is the packaging or holdingreceptacle 88 which is provided with a lower cap 89. This receptacle is held in position by means of the outwardly projecting pin 96, which is detachably mounted on the lower end of the bracket 96 at the nuts 92 and 93. To remove the receptable D, the stud is removed, and it may be moved out of the tubular enclosure 86.

The hopper 100 will initially receive the mica plates A, B or C, and will discharge them out of its lower opening 101 into the horizontal tube 102 which extends obliquely downwardly and forwardly, as shown.

{This tube 102 will discharge into the upper end 103 of the vertical tube 86.

In operation, as the mica plates are dumped into the hopper 100, they will be conveyed horizontally through the horizontal tube 102, being reciprocated by the platform 44 to the substantially vertical tube 86, where they will be deposited and aligned in the receptacle D.

This aligned stacking, as indicated in Fig. 4, is automatic and will enable great saving of hand labor subsequently upon use of the mica discs for assembling of vacuum tubes or other electronic devices.

The machine is simple, of few parts, and essentially requires only a motor 32, a crank 4041 42,and the reciprocatory plate 44 to perform its feeding and stacking function.

In the alternative embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the hopper is supported on the reciprocatory plate 121, which is reciprocated by a drive from the motor 122, the pulley 123, the belt 124, the crank disc 125, the eye 126, the arm 127 and the eye 128, which latter is connected to the stud 129 mounted in the platform 121.

This will result in the discs being fed from the hopper 120 into the oppositely extending horizontal tubes 130 and 131 into the vertical stacking tubes 132 and 133.

In thearrangement shown in Fig. 8, the hopper is mounted upon a circular plate 146.

The circular plate 146 is caused to reciprocate or oscillate by a drive from the motor 147 through the pulley 148, the belt 149 and the crank disc 150.

The crank disc 150 drives the crank having the end eyes 152 and 153. The oscillating plate 146 will cause the discs to feed from the hopper 145 through the opening 154 and out through the radiating tubes-155 to the vertical tubes 156.

It is thus apparent from the arrangements in Fig. 6 that a large number of stacks of mica discs may be formed at the same time.

The plastic tube D which serves as the package and which is held in position as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 to receive the mica plates may be of Lucite or Plexiglas and it may take a wide rangeof sizes ranging from 0.336 to 0.762 inch.

Instead of holding the tube D in the manner indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, it may also be clipped at the. top "and bottom, which will render it more readily possible to remove filled tubes and introduce new tubes.

T he springs 53 may consist of 0 rubber rings or rubher hands to give the necessary resiliency.

The stroke of the eccentric arm 41 is adjustable and may vary from inch to inch. This stroke is indicated by the spacing of the two pivots or shafts 39 and 3% as shown upon Figs. 1 and 2. V

The inclination of the tube 102 may range from 5 degrees to 15 degrees and is desirably between IO' degrees to 15 degrees to the horizontal.

As many changes could be made in the above mica flat handling systems, and many widely different embodi ments of this invention couldbe made withoutdepartmeut from the scope of the claims, itis-intended that allrnatter contained in the above description 'shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. I

aving now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. A mica plate stacking system comprising an oscillating support, a hopper to receive the mica plates mounted on said support, a vertical stackingtube carried at the edge of the support, a lateral conduit from the hopper to the tube, and means to subject the support and tube to lateral oscillation.

2. A mica plate stacking system comprising an oscillating support, a hopper to receive the rnica plates mounted on said support, a vertical stacking tube carried at the endge of the support, a lateral conduit from the hopper to the tube, and means to subject the support and tube to lateral oscillation, said support comprising a plate and said plate being provided with a motor and B60811? tric crank driving arrangement.

3. A mica plate stacking system comprising an oscillating support, a hopper to receive the mica plates mounted on said support, a vertical stacking tube carried at the edge of the support, a lateral conduit from the hopper to the tube, and means to subjectv the support ,and tube to lateral oscillation, said vertical tube being provided with a removable carrying package for.the.mica plates.

4. A mica plate stacking system comprising anoscillating support, a hopper to receive the mica plates mounted on said support, a vertical stacking tubeca'rried at the edge of the support, a lateral con'duit' frornthe hopper to the tube, and means to subject. the support and tube to lateral oscillation, said support-being'provided with U-shaped spring clips to .detachably receive said stacking tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,163,107 Phifer Dec. 7, 1915 1,620,058 Bell 61; a1. Mar. 8, 1 927 1,688,406 Tiffany Oct. 23,. 1928 2,236,890 

1. A MICA PLATE STACKING SYSTEM COMPRISING AN OSCILLATING SUPPORT, A HOPPER TO RECEIVE THE MICA PLATES MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT, A VERTICAL STACKING TUBE CARRIED AT THE EDGE OF THE SUPPORT, A LATERAL CONDUIT FROM THE 